St. John's woman witnesses refugee rescue in Aegean Sea
Woman says Greek port of Lesbos is inundated with migrants, refugees
A St. John's woman says she witnessed incredible generosity towards fleeing migrants and refugees while visiting Greece over the weekend — but is shocked international groups aren't doing more to help.
Anna Stassis was on the island of Lesbos Saturday at a friend's wedding when she witnessed a boat being rescued at sea.
The church, which overlooks the Aegean Sea, was so small that she and some other guests had to stand outside to watch the ceremony
Every single day these boats are coming in and coming in and coming in.- Anna Stassis, St. John's woman visiting Greek island
From outside the church, Stassis said she could see Turkey.
At some points, the distance between the country and Lesbos is as little as 5.5 kilometres.
"When I turned my head and looked out to sea, I was able to make out ... about 10 motor-powered skiffs making their way across from Turkey, loaded down with refugees," she told CBC Radio's On The Go from Greece.
"I couldn't tell you how many people there were, but there must have been at least 40 or 50 people in these little, small rubber dinghies."
In the middle of the ceremony, Stassis said she and other guests began hearing calls for help and whistles from the boats.
"One of them at one point got stuck, their motor engine must have just given out," she said.
"Eventually ... a Greek fishermen who was out in his own boat made his way over to them, stopped and spoke with him for a bit. He basically hauled them into shore."
"It was quite jarring to see that happening, while at the same time trying to enjoy the joyfulness of this wedding taking place."
She later learned from a Turkish-speaking guest who spoke with the refugees, that it took about 1.5 hours to make the crossing. The water that day, she said, was calm and the group arrived just before sunset.
'It's happening everyday'
Stassis said it's difficult to describe the magnitude of migrants and refugees fleeing to the island mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It's happening everyday," she said.
"This is just one beach, one point on Lesbos."
"Every single day these boats are coming in and coming in and coming in ... And there isn't a great deal of support for them from any national agencies that I could see anywhere."
Stassis said the Greek people appear to be helping Syrians as best they can, providing food and water. The country, however, is experiencing a financial crisis of its own.
I felt heartbroken for them ... because I had already seen what was waiting for them.- Anna Stassis, St. John's woman visiting Greek island
"There was a Greek lady on that beach who actually opened up a storehouse of some kind and gave dry clothes to the women and children coming off the boats so they could change out of their wet clothes," she said.
The port in the capitol Mytilene, she said, is inundated with tents as refugees wait for passage to other parts of Europe.
Four people, she said, have formed a grassroots group in Mytilene to help the "thousands upon thousands upon thousands of refugees that have been arriving for months now."
"But other than any meagre efforts that the local population has been giving them, there really doesn't seem to be much help for them at all."
First-world problems
Many refugees, Stassis said, are temporarily living on busy city streets.
"And what was waiting for them was days upon days of endless walking in the dirt and the heat, and no showers and nowhere to use the bathroom, and no food and no water other than what the local population has managed to give them along the way."
Stassis said the refugees are no different than North Americans and Europeans; they had homes, attended schools and had jobs before being forced to flee their countries.
"It really puts into perspective that the problems we have, as real as they are, they are first-world problems ... they are nothing like the problems that these people are facing right now."